My Version of Riders of Berk
A/N: Hey there, everyone! *sees readers with axes and swords and gulps nervously*
So, um, did you guys enjoy the final season of Race to the Edge? I know I did. *sees that doesn't help*
Okay, before one of you readers tries to chop off my head, let me explain! I've just been so busy with many things: school, life, and other stories. But do know that I won't give up on this. This HTTYD AU is what got me started on Fanfiction.
And now, I hope you all have been patient. Retract your weapons and let's get on with Chapter 5! Roll it!
Chapter 5
In Dragons We Trust
One day, Hiccup was seen free falling through the sky on his back, down towards the sea.
As you fly through life, it's important to know who you can trust, and who you can't.
A roar was then heard, and Hiccup flipped himself over as Toothless quickly swooped down and caught his Rider on his back. "Nice catch, bud." Hiccup said to his dragon, looking back to the spot where he would've splashed pretty hard. "A little close."
I know I can always count on Toothless. And it's important for him to know, that no matter what, he can count on me.
Hiccup and Toothless flew up to where the other Riders were waiting and swooped in next to Fishlegs and Meatlug. "It's your turn." He said. "Jump!"
"I don't want to jump!" Fishlegs cried out fearfully, knowing how high they are.
"You have to believe she's gonna catch you!" Hiccup encouraged. "It's a trust exercise."
"I like to do my trusting on the ground, thank you very much!" Fishlegs continued to refuse.
"Like this, Chicken-legs!" Snotlout taunted before demonstrating, sliding off of Hookfang. But his dragon didn't go after him.
"So, should we mention something to Hookfang?" Tuffnut asked.
"Let me sleep on it." Ruffnut said.
Cosette and Violet flew by Hiccup and Toothless, along with Ragnar and Fossil. "Do we have to let Hookfang get him?" She asked.
Astrid answered her question as she and Stormfly flew next to the Monstrous Nightmare. "Hookfang! Get him!" Hookfang finally seemed to notice that his Rider was plummeting to the ground, thanks to Toothless roaring at him.
"Not feeling the trust!" Snotlout shouted, still free falling. The Nightmare quickly dove after him and caught him with his snout. But now, the both of them were far too low to regain altitude. "Coming in too hot!" Snotlout yelled before he and Hookfang crashed through a roof and into someone's house.
After they crashed, the two looked around the interior of the house and saw weapons hanging on the walls. Then, they saw an unwelcoming familiar face, and he was furious.
"Mildew!" Snotlout cried out before he and Hookfang immediately shot right out of the old man's house, leaving another hole in the roof.
"You'll pay for this!" Mildew threatened before a piece of roofing hit his head.
"Oh, something tells we're going to hear about this." Hiccup said worriedly.
"And guess what will be for dinner tonight?" Ragnar asked rhetorically.
Sure enough, that evening, Stoick placed a piece of roofing material on the table in front of the Trio. "Shingle again? Didn't we have roofing material for dinner last night?" Hiccup asked, trying to make a joke.
"I was hoping for some soup." Cosette added, smiling nervously as well with the guys. But Stoick only glared at them.
"It was an accident, Dad." Hiccup admitted. "I'm sure Mildew's making it sound worse than it is."
"A dragon and a huge, obnoxious boy crashed through his roof… twice!" Stoick pointed out.
"Well, sure it sounds bad if you're gonna stick to the facts." Ragnar muttered.
"Of all the houses on the island, a dragon had to crash through Mildew's." Stoick said. "You three all know he hates dragons more than anyone else."
"We know." Hiccup answered. "You might wanna talk to him about his attitude."
"Listen to me, kids." Stoick said. "I gave you three the responsibility of training those dragons. Everyone knows that! All eyes are on you guys. Whatever those beasts do reflects on you. And whatever you three do reflects on me."
"We're sorry." Hiccup apologized. "You're right."
"You and your friends are gonna go back to Mildew's and fix that roof." Stoick said. "Without your dragons."
The Misfit Trio turned to Toothless and petted his head. "Caught a break there, bud." Hiccup said.
"Luckily for him." Cosette added.
"Ah! Not so fast." Stoick stopped them. "Aren't you forgetting something?" He then took off his boots. "It's boot night. They need to be aired out." He then handed his boots to the boys.
The Trio all gagged at the same time and quickly plugged their noses at the smell, while Toothless also turned away from them after he regrettably took a curious sniff of the boots. "I think it's gonna take a lot more than air." Hiccup said as they all went outside.
"Definitely." Ragnar agreed, gasping for fresh air.
Once out of the house, the boys placed the boots on the front steps and immediately took in a breath of much-needed fresh air, along with Cosette. "I swear, I'm gonna to pour perfume in those boots." She declared.
From their house, they could hear the other Riders complaining about their own fathers' smelly boots. "Ugh, I hate boot night!" Fishlegs gagged.
The twins were each holding a boot, like Hiccup and Ragnar were. Tuffnut shoved his boot in Ruffnut's face, but she pushed it away and put her own into his mug.
"Why is his left foot so smellier than his right?" He complained.
Snotlout had a look of disgust and dread on his face. "Oh, no." He said as he felt bile rising in his throat. But he quickly forced it down and tossed the smelly boots onto the front step.
The following morning, all the men in the village were wandering around barefooted since their boots had gone missing. "Where are my boots?" Stoick asked himself. He then saw Gobber, Bucket and Mulch standing barefooted. "Where are your boots?" He asked them.
"They've all been stolen, every last one!" Gobber explained.
"Oh, that explains why me feet are cold." Bucket just realized.
Mulch ignored the simplistic statement and went straight to the problem. "Who could have done such a thing?" He asked.
Strangely, Mildew arrived on the scene. "All I know is that they left a mighty big footprint." He said, pointing with his staff to a set of dragon prints in the snow.
By now, the Riders were up and joined the adults. "Oh, those are Zippleback tracks." Fishlegs identified. "You can tell by the half-moon arches. It's Dragon 101, I don't gotta fill you in on that."
"Not everyone is a walking dragon encyclopedia." Cosette said to him, crossing her arms.
"So, a dragon walked through here- a Zippleback, according to my friend, Fishlegs." Hiccup stated. "But that doesn't mean he took everyone's boots."
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Mildew smirked. "Follow the footprints."
Soon enough, the tracks led to the Arena, where there was a large pile of boots next to a sleeping, very familiar, Hideous Zippleback. Barf and Belch.
Hiccup tried to find an alternative reason. "So there's a bunch of boots piled around a Zippleback, but that doesn't mean-" He stopped when Stoick held up a boot with bite and claw marks. "Okay, fine, he took the boots."
"How are we supposed to do any work in this weather without our boots?" One Viking asked.
"This is outrageous!" Another exclaimed.
"Now, how long before something's done about these creatures, Stoick?" Mildew asked. "How much more can we stand?"
"Listen to yourselves!" Gobber quieted the complaining adults. "'My feet are cold!' You're Vikings! Everything is cold! I'll fix your boots, and you'll be back to work in no time."
"You all heard Gobber." Stoick said. "You'll get your boots back as good as new."
"That's it?" Mildew asked, surprised. "No consequence for these dragons?"
"They took our boots, Mildew." Stoick replied, regarding it as a small deal. "The world isn't coming to an end."
"Oh, don't be so sure." Mildew retorted. "Dragons are wild beast. There's no telling what they'll do behind our sleeping backs."
Ragnar and Cosette glared at the old cabbage farmer. "Well, it's not like they destroy things on purpose!" Ragnar shouted.
Hiccup thought about that for a moment. "Actually, Mildew has a point."
The three arguing people stopped and looked at the Haddock boy. "Say what now?" Cosette asked.
"Dragons are wild animals, and they need us to keep an eye on them." Hiccup explained, looking back at the sleeping Zippleback. "And rest assured, we will do just that." Just as everyone began leaving the Arena, the Zippleback woke up and walked away, but the Trio noticed something about the footprints it left.
Later that day, the Dragon Riders were gathered together at one of the catapults guarding the village. "We're going on night patrol." Hiccup announced.
"Night patrol!" Tuffnut cheered. "I love it!" But then, he asked, "What is it?" Cosette slapped her forehead with an open palm.
Hiccup began explaining to the male Thorston. "It's where we patrol at night to keep an eye on the dragons. Make sure they don't get blamed for anything else."
"Um, have you cleared this with our parents?" Fishlegs asked nervously. "Because some of us might not be allowed out after a certain hour."
"Not allowed? Or afraid?" Snotlout teased.
"Hey! Things happen after dark!" Fishlegs defended.
"Okay!" Ragnar shouted, ending the would-be argument. "Anyone else having curfew problems?"
"Guys, we have to do this." Hiccup said. "You all heard Mildew; he wants the dragons banished."
"Permission to shoot first and ask questions later?" Ruffnut asked.
"Permission to skip the questions?" Tuffnut added.
"Permission denied, no matter how tempting it is." Cosette said.
"We're just patrolling!" Hiccup told the twins. "Nobody is shooting anyone."
"I have a question. What's fun about that?" Tuffnut asked.
"It's not supposed to be fun." Astrid said. "It's a "Hiccup" idea."
"Exactly!" Hiccup agreed, before realizing what Astrid had said. "What?"
"Remind me again why I forgave her." Cosette muttered to Ragnar. The Iverson boy only shrugged.
That night, the Dragon Riders were wandering around the village for their patrol. Hiccup decided that they would be called the Dragon United Monitoring Brigade, or also known as DUMB, much to the others' chagrin. To make it worse, they all wore sashes with the acronym on them.
The Misfit Trio were flying on their dragons above and around the village, while everyone else was on the ground. "This has to be the worst of your bad plans, Hiccup." Cosette said.
"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked, not knowing why she said that.
"Sashes that say DUMB?" Ragnar pointed out. "Seriously?"
"Okay, maybe you're right." Hiccup shrugged. "But at least Mildew will be happy to know that dragons do at night. They sleep like everyone else."
"That old lump of flesh will only be satisfied when the dragons are banished." Cosette said.
"Well, good thing that's never gonna happen." Hiccup replied.
"Let's hope so." Ragnar added, hoping that his doubts won't be confirmed.
The next morning, the Dragon Riders entered the Great Hall to find all of the Vikings inside, staring at the walls, which were covered with scratches and claw marks. Stoick was wandering around the hall, eyeing the damage. "Who could've done such a thing?" He asked quietly.
"Oh, it looks like a dragon to me." Fishlegs observed.
"We don't know that for sure, Fishlegs." Hiccup said.
"Sure, we do." The Ingermen boy added. "It was obviously a Monstrous Nightmare. The spacing of the talons is dead on."
"Once again, thank you, Fishlegs!" Hiccup said sarcastically, while Ragnar and Cosette both slapped their foreheads.
"Oh stop, it's just basic stuff." Fishlegs said bashfully, still not getting it.
Ragnar lightly banged his head against a nearby column with a groan. Cosette then slapped the Ingerman boy on the arm, making him shout out in pain. "Don't you know anything about sarcasm?" She hissed.
"But how could this happen?" Astrid asked. "We had every dragon accounted for at all times! Right, guys?"
The twins exchanged affirmative glances, but Snotlout looked a little nervous. "When you say, 'at all times', and 'every dragon', what exactly do you mean?" He asked timidly.
"Oh, boy." Ragnar groaned, wondering what happened this time.
"Okay, what happened, Snotlout?" Hiccup asked, having a hand on his forehead.
"Well, I was sustaining a suspect, who wasn't showing any respect to the sash." Snotlout began to explain, glaring over at Gobber.
"I think I showed sufficient respect to a sash that says 'D.U.M.B.'" Gobber said.
"We've got to change that name." Astrid pointed out.
"No kidding." Cosette agreed.
"Anyways, as I was questioning said suspect," Snotlout sent one more glare at Gobber, "Hookfang may have- and I'm not saying he did- but it is possible he wandered off for a few…"
"Seconds?" Ruffnut guessed.
"Minutes?" Tuffnut put in his.
"Hours." Snotlout admitted, making all the Riders groan.
"Oh, that's way longer than minutes." Tuffnut said.
"Oh, really?" Ragnar said sarcastically. "I didn't know that."
"Oh no, it's true." Mildew suddenly spoke up upon entering the Great Hall. "The Great Hall, oh, so many memories. My three weddings, their three funerals… oh, the funerals."
"A dragon must've gone on a rampage." Gobber theorized. "I hate to say it Stoick, but you're going to have to- "
"I know what's has to be done." Stoick cut him off.
"So do I!" Mildew added in.
"Starting tonight, every night, I want all the dragons put in the Academy under lock and key." Stoick said.
"What?!" Mildew exclaimed. "That's it?! Look at what they did!" Secretly, the Trio was a little bit relieved at the decision. It could've been much worse; however Hiccup was thinking about something.
"This just doesn't make any sense." He said. "A dragon wouldn't just come in and destroy the place." He then saw some food on a table, completely untouched. "I mean, none of the food was even touched."
Ragnar and Cosette nodded in agreement, but Stoick still held firm. "I don't know why dragons do what they do, but I'm not letting them do any more damage." With that, the Chief left the Great Hall, with Gobber and surprisingly Mildew following.
Hiccup sighed heavily, with his best friends coming up to him and putting a hand on his shoulders. They were also not happy with the consequences.
Later that day, the Riders were on their dragons, flying towards the Academy. The Misfit Trio looked down and saw Stoick and Gobber staring up at them. They however, turned away and began leading the others to the Academy.
"You had to cage the dragons, Stoick." Gobber said to his friend. "You had no choice."
"I know." Stoick said. "But to the Trio, when I punish the dragons, I'm punishing them."
"Yeah." Gobber agreed. "Those three think the dragons could do no wrong."
Stoick sighed in understanding. "I just hope they understand that while a father does what's best for his sons and their friend, a chief must do what's best for the village."
In the Arena, as the sun was beginning to set, the Riders were trying to get their dragons to bed. Fishlegs had tried singing a lullaby that he would usually sing to Meatlug. But his Gronckle was too upset to even pay attention to the song.
"That usually works." Fishlegs said after Meatlug turned away from him. "Her whole bedtime routine is a mess. She won't even lick my feet! Thanks to- "
"Watch it, Fishlegs!" Snotlout cut him off with a threatening glare. "At least my dragon doesn't need a lullaby and a blankie."
"Everyone raises their dragon differently, Snotlout." Ragnar said with a huff.
"And it's your fault that all of our dragons have to sleep in jail." Ruffnut added.
"Yeah." Tuffnut agreed. "You don't see our dragon going on a rampage and wrecking stuff." For the sake of being ironic, Barf and Belch smashed a nearby crate. "Well, not any good stuff." He clarified.
Hiccup was deep in thought. "I don't think that dragons wrecked the Great Hall. Or stole all those boots."
Astrid came up to him. "None of us want to believe it either, Hiccup, but you saw the proof."
"What proof?" Hiccup asked her. "You saw the tracks. They were supposed to be made by a Zippleback, but they're no deeper than mine."
"Yeah, look at this." Cosette said. She stepped into a nearby footprint in the snow that was created by Barf and Belch. "I could easily lie down in them!"
"Well, there could be a reason why a dragon would make shallow footprints." Fishlegs said.
"Like, hello?" Ruffnut added in like it was obvious. "It was trying to be sneaky?"
"Okay, what about the Great Hall?" Astrid asked Hiccup.
Before anyone could answer, Hookfang started fighting with Barf and Belch, the Nightmare lighting himself on fire. "Snotlout, do something about him, please?" Hiccup asked. "We're trying to think here."
"Yeah, I gave up on thinking." Tuffnut cut in. "Never been happier." Ragnar slapped his forehead in annoyance.
Hiccup turned his attention back to his cousin. "Snotlout?" He asked.
"I'm not the boss of him." The Jorgenson boy defended. "He always does that when he gets angry."
The Trio all looked over at Hookfang, who had left a scorch mark on the ground where his claw was. "Or goes on a rampage." Cosette realized.
"That's how we can explain the Great Hall." Hiccup said. He quickly climbed onto Toothless. "We've got to tell my dad."
"Fossil, stay here." Ragnar said to his dragon before joining his foster brother on the saddle.
"You too, Violet." Cosette told her own dragon as she hopped behind Ragnar and Toothless took off with the Trio.
It was night when the Misfit Trio arrived at the Great Hall. Cosette offered to stay outside with Toothless while Hiccup and Ragnar talked to their father. When they entered, Vikings were fixing all of the damage.
"Just hear us out, Dad." Ragnar said.
"When a Monstrous Nightmare gets mad, its whole body bursts into flames." Hiccup explained. "Look at these holes. Not a single scorch mark."
Stoick heavily sighed and turned to his sons, both by blood and by foster relation. "Boys, until I have solid proof that it was something else, the dragons stay where they are." Hiccup looked up at him with disappointment, while Ragnar just huffed in defeat and annoyance.
Waiting outside, Toothless was taking a quick nap as Cosette ran her fingers across the top of his head, scratching gently while quietly humming a cheerful little ditty. She was getting a little worried, since Hiccup and Ragnar were taking longer than she thought.
Suddenly, Toothless perked up his head. "What's the matter, boy?" Cosette asked him. Toothless listened intently for something. He then began heading down the steps with Cosette following him.
Soon, they came to the armory, and the door was open. Cosette raised a confused eyebrow, knowing that the armory should be closed, unless if Gobber, Hiccup, Ragnar, or herself was working late.
Cautiously, the Henderson girl entered the armory, with Toothless behind her. "Hello?" She called out. "Anyone in here?"
Just then, the two of them heard a noise. A window then appeared open, with a figure running away. Cosette raced over to the window. "Hey! Stop right there!" She shouted.
Suddenly, Toothless began sniffing the air. Cosette soon caught the scent as well. When she saw where it was coming from, her eyes widened in terror.
A small spark of fire was heading towards a barrel of powder that Gobber had put in the storage space. "Get out!" She screamed.
But it was too late. The spark hit the powder, and it exploded in bursts of flames, setting the armory on fire. Cosette was blown back by the force of the explosion and landed outside on the ground, unconscious. Toothless grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt and dragged her away to safety.
A crowd of Vikings began shouting "Fire!", getting the attention of Stoick. He rushed out and saw the armory in flames.
"Grab some buckets!" He ordered.
Vikings grabbed some buckets of water and began to put out the fire. Stoick then saw Toothless sitting further away, nudging an unconscious Cosette, who had soot on her face and her clothes seared a little bit.
"Toothless?" Stoick asked, not believing what he was seeing.
"It was him!" Someone accused. "He set the armory on fire!"
Hiccup and Ragnar were bringing some buckets and they froze when they saw what was happening. "Toothless?" Hiccup whispered breathlessly, dropping his buckets in horror. Ragnar did too, for that and for what he saw beside the Night Fury.
"Cosette!" Both boys ran over to their best friend, sliding down onto their knees. Toothless nudged Cosette once more, whimpering with worry, before he moved away for Ragnar to check on her.
"Is she…?" Hiccup was too afraid to finish the thought.
Ragnar checked her pulse, then sighed heavily with pure relief. "No, she's alive." He assured his foster brother. "Just really shook up."
Hiccup sighed with relief, and then petted Toothless on the head. "She'll be okay, bud. None of us go down that easily."
Toothless cooed and nuzzled his head into Hiccup's chest, making him laugh. Ragnar then ran his hand across the Night Fury's head. "Lucky thing you were with her." He said to the dragon. "Thanks, boy."
Once the fire was put out, Stoick, Gobber and everyone else stood by the armory, which was now destroyed. Cosette was lying down on a blanket while Gothi, the village healer, was tending to her. Ragnar wanted to help, but the little old woman insisted that he go with Hiccup to discuss the incident. The other Riders had already arrived on the scene.
"Every one of our weapons, gone." Stoick breathed.
Gobber then found a bent sword with a large dent in the blade. "Prudence! Poor darling!" He cried, "I'm sorry you didn't lead a long, bloody life." He then plunged the ash-covered sword into the ground.
"She didn't have to die, Gobber." Mildew spoke up, suddenly appearing from the crowd. "Hiccup's dragon left us all defenseless!" He exclaimed, with other villagers voicing their agreements.
"He didn't." Hiccup protested. "Cosette was with him."
"And look what happened to her." Mildew added, pointing to her. Ragnar glared fiercely at him. Hiccup placed a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. He then turned to his father.
"Dad, you know Toothless wouldn't do any of this!" Hiccup tried to reason. "The moment Sette wakes up, she'll confirm it."
"Besides, if it weren't for Toothless, Cosette would be dead!" Ragnar added.
"Listen to your boys, Stoick. That's what got us into this mess!" Mildew countered, looking over at the two teenage foster brothers. "See what happens when you leave your dragon alone to wait outside? Your friend could've died."
Ragnar narrowed his eyes at him further, but Hiccup's own eyes widened. "What did you say?" He asked.
However, he was interrupted by Gobber's cry. "Cindy!" The blacksmith held up another destroyed sword. "I guess your throat-slicing days are over."
Stoick sighed. "These dragons have done too damage. It's no longer safe to have them on Berk. I want them gone."
"WHAT?!" Hiccup and Ragnar exclaimed in horror.
"Finally!" Mildew cheered.
Ragnar had enough and tried to attack the old man while yelling in anger. Hiccup though held him back. "Let me at him!" Ragnar shouted, his vision tinted red. "I'll kill him! That conniving, rotten snake in the grass! That spawn of Hella!"
Hiccup quickly calmed his foster brother down before he started cursing even worse insults. "Easy, Rag. He's not worth it." The Iverson boy eventually gave up on his attempted murderous rampage, but he was still glaring the sharpest daggers at Mildew.
"Round them up and take them all to Dragon Island." Stoick ordered. "By the end of the day tomorrow, there will be no more dragons on Berk!"
The Riders were silent with shock, mouths agape. Mildew though had a grin on his face. "What a glorious day that will be." He said. "Party at my house!" He then walked over to Hiccup and Ragnar. "Don't forget boys, right after you drop off your dragons, you'll be fixing my roof." Then he stole away.
"This is wrong." Hiccup said.
"You onto something?" Ragnar asked him.
"It's horrible." Astrid sighed, drawing their attention. "It's the worst day of my life, and it will be even worse for Cosette. She won't even get to say goodbye to Violet."
"No, Astrid." Hiccup clarified. "Something here doesn't add up."
"All I know is that I'm losing my dragon." Fishlegs said sadly as he began to walk away.
"For now, yeah." Hiccup replied. "But I-I need time to fix this."
"What are you talking about?" Snotlout asked with defeat on his face. "It's over."
One by one, the Riders began to walk away. "Forget it. It's over." Ruffnut said, repeating what Snotlout said before.
"Yeah, it's over." Tuffnut echoed, leaving Hiccup and Ragnar alone in the plaza.
The next morning, all the Riders minus Cosette flew towards Dragon Island, with one ship following them. Once they landed, the Riders began saying their goodbyes to their dragons.
Astrid removed her saddle from Stormfly's back. "I'm gonna miss you." She said tearfully, hugging her dragon.
The twins had already taken off their saddles and were each giving a hug to both Barf and Belch.
Fishlegs laid out a pile of rocks. "Okay, Meatlug." He began, trying to hold back his tears. "There's plenty of rocks if you get hungry. And don't eat any limestone; you know it doesn't agree with you."
"Be strong, buddy." Snotlout assured Hookfang, giving him a hug around his snout. "I know you're going to miss me." But Hookfang saw a bird fly by and started after it. "He's crying on the inside." Snotlout said, choking on his tears.
Ragnar removed Violet's saddle and gave her a brief hug. "I'm sorry that Cosette isn't here, but don't worry. You'll see her again, girl." Then, he removed Fossil's saddle. "Don't be afraid, pal." He said, hugging his huge bony head. "We'll set this right."
Hiccup slowly took off Toothless' saddle. "I'll be back for you. I promise." He vowed. Ragnar then came up to him, gesturing to him that they had to go. Slowly, they started to, but Toothless was following them, growling softly.
"No, bud." Hiccup said, his voice beginning to break because of the tears building up. "You gotta stay here and take care of the other dragons."
"It's all right." Ragnar added, also on the verge of breaking down in tears. "Fossil and Violet will help you."
Hiccup began to outstretch his hand to his dragon. "It's gonna be okay, Toothless." He assured the Night Fury. "Trust me."
After a moment, Toothless nudged his head into Hiccup's palm. The two boys then gave him one last hug and walked towards the ship with dejection. Toothless curled up in sadness as they did so, with Fossil and Violet lying down beside him.
As the ship sailed away, Hiccup and Ragnar both kept their eyes on Dragon Island until it faded from view. Astrid came up to them and leaned dejectedly against the mast. Hiccup copied her while Ragnar just sat down on the floor, leaning against the side of the ship.
"There's something Mildew said that I can't stop thinking about." Hiccup spoke up. "H-He said, 'See what happens when you leave your dragon to wait outside?' He knew that Toothless wasn't with me just before the armory fire."
"You brought up a good point." Ragnar said, intrigued.
"So…?" Astrid said, not following.
"So he lives on the other side of the island." Hiccup pointed out. "What was he doing in town? And how would he know where we were before the fire?"
Astrid then got what Hiccup was trying to imply. "You really think he set that fire?"
"I think he did." Ragnar said. "Knowing that old coot, he would do anything to get rid of the dragons, even if it means leaving the island defenseless."
"Yes." Hiccup said. "I think he did all of it, and I think he did it so that Dad would get rid of the dragons."
Astrid thought about that. "That's a pretty serious accusation." She said. "How are you going to prove it?" Hiccup and Ragnar only gave her a determined glance out towards the ocean.
Later that day, Hiccup and Ragnar were busy mending the roof of Mildew's house. Ragnar looked around, checking if they were all alone. Mildew had left earlier towards town with his pet sheep, Fungus.
"All clear." He said to Hiccup. The Haddock boy nodded, set his tools aside and spat the nails from the corners of his mouth.
Both boys looked down into the house from the hole, double-checking to see if there was no one inside. Hiccup then tossed down a rope inside and slid down. "Cover for me." Hiccup said to his foster brother. Ragnar gave him an affirmative salute.
Hiccup started looking around Mildew's house. There were pictures of the old man slaying dragons, remains of dragon bones, and old axes as wall supports. On one of the walls were three shield paintings of Viking women, each one uglier than the next.
"Wife, wife, wife." Hiccup counted before he saw the fourth shield, which had a painting of Fungus. "Hmm… Well, Mildew definitely has a type." He said before shuddering in disgust.
Ragnar shuddered as well while slightly sticking out his tongue as if he had tasted something sour. "Who in their right mind would marry Mildew?" He asked rhetorically.
Hiccup only shrugged up at him before continuing to search. He then saw the kettle over the hearth. He slightly removed the lid to take a curious sniff of what was inside. He immediately regretted it as he closed the lid and gagged from the smell. Ragnar from above cringed in disgust as the faint yet foul smell wafted up to where he was.
"Was that his supper or his washing?" He asked, plugging his nose in one hand for a few seconds.
"Let's not ask questions we don't want answers to." Hiccup replied. "Besides, I don't want to know."
Just then, Hiccup noticed something from behind a drape. He moved it aside and gasped at what he saw. There was a pair of boots that resembled the feet of a Zippleback, and beside it was a fake Monstrous Nightmare claw attached to the top of a short staff.
"What the…?" Hiccup breathed as he picked up one of the boots and the claw.
Ragnar looked up from the hole, trying to steady his breathing. So Mildew was behind all of it. His thoughts were interrupted when he saw someone approaching the house.
"Uh-oh." He said when he saw who it was. He turned back to the hole. "Mayday, mayday. Bro, get out of there." He warned.
Suddenly, the door knob began rattling. Hiccup caught his breath again, tossed the boot and claw back to their spot and scrambled up the rope, all in record time.
Mildew entered his house happily, followed by Fungus. "I'm home, ladies!" He called out, walking up to the three paintings. "Huh, what's that you say? Nothing? Perfect."
He then pulled back the drape where the boots and claw were. "Ah, these served us well, didn't they, Fungus?" He asked his sheep. "Shame we have to get rid of them."
Hiccup and Ragnar watched tensely as Mildew took the boots and claw and began to leave his house, Fungus following him. The Haddock boy hung onto the rope with all his strength to not be seen by them. But a drop of nervous sweat trickled down the side of his face and fell onto Fungus' head.
The sheep looked up and saw the two foster brothers above him, one of them hanging onto a rope and the other peeking over the hole in the roof. He bleated to get Mildew's attention, but luckily for the boys, he ignored his pet and walked out of the house.
Ragnar helped Hiccup back up onto the roof, just in time to see Mildew at the edge of the cliff near his cabbage field. Then, he tossed the boots and claw into the ocean.
Ragnar slightly growled. "Now what?" He asked. Hiccup didn't answer as he glared at Mildew.
A/N: How was that? Worthy of your patience? Please say yes. I've been stuck on this chapter for months! To crocodilesmile55, I hope what you have requested was good enough for you.
Now, for those of you who read "Dragon Music Tales", I have asked a question on the last update I made. Is there like an appointed Hiccstrid Day or something, because I have a special one-shot planned for that. Please let me know ahead of time so that I can mark it down.
I've already started work on the next chapter of this story, so hopefully it won't take too long, with summer vacation coming up in a couple of months.
Until then, I'll see y'all in Chapter 6! Please leave a review about what you think.
Got to fly! ;)